


Gaining Rhythm

by librariesaresopunk



Category: Footloose (1984)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Friends to Lovers, I needed them to be together somewhere, M/M, They're so gay in the movie honestly, Willard Cannot Dance, dance lessons, even if it's just in my heart
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-03
Updated: 2016-12-05
Packaged: 2018-09-06 07:52:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8741338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/librariesaresopunk/pseuds/librariesaresopunk
Summary: Ren is planning to host a Senior Prom. To do that, he needs the support of his best friend Willard, who knows the ins and outs of town politics. There is only one problem--Willard cannot dance.





	1. Beat

“Then I’m going to teach you how to dance,” Ren promises, leaning across the hose at the quarter car wash. Willard feels his ears heating up, and he’s pretty sure it’s not because of the blazing sun coming from overhead.

That was two weeks ago, and now Ren is sitting in the driver’s seat of the well beloved yellow beetle, pushing a cassette tape into the player. Willard readjusts his cowboy hat.

“Okay,” Ren says, looking up with a smirk. “You’ve got to learn how to follow rhythm if you want to dance.” The music begins to play, a glassy synthesized sound and loud beat. Willard watches closely as Ren bobs his head a little, then the blond begins to snap his fingers in synch with the beat of the song. 

Okay, Willard thinks, I can do this. This is easy. He starts to snap his fingers, trying to keep and even amount of time between each snap.

“Hey, uh,” Ren stutters as Willard snaps offbeat again.

“What?” Willard asks, his timing slipping. He snaps twice in succession, hoping to make up for the “beat” he missed.

“No, you gotta—like so,” Ren explains, snapping on beat once again.

“Like, uh,” Willard tries again. He winces as he sees Ren making another face. Sighing, Willard lifts his hat, smoothes out his hair, and sets the white Stetson back onto his head. “Look, Ren, I don’t get why I gotta snap with the music. What’s that got to do with dancin’?”

“It’s got everything to do with it!” Ren protests. “You can’t dance without rhythm, Will.” 

“Will?” Willard asks.

“What?” Ren asks, confused. Willard isn’t sure what to say. Mostly, he feels like he wants to puke, given that his stomach is currently occupied with tying itself in knots.

“Well, mostly, my folks call me Willard. They say shortenin’ it ain’t quite right somehow,” Willard explains. Ren’s brow creases.

“Willard, I’m sorry, man, I didn’t—“

“But, uh, I kinda like it?” Willard offers.

“Really?” Ren asks, the little lines around his eyes deepening as he grins happily. 

“Yeah, really.”

There is a short pause as one song ends and another begins. This one begins with a sharp beat and a twinge of pastel pink synthesizer. 

“Okay, let’s try this beat thing again,” Ren suggests. 

“A’ight,” Willard agrees. Ren’s slender fingers begin to snap again, and his head bobs up and down with the beat. Willard can’t help a goofy grin spreading over his face as he tries to listen to the rhythm of the music.

The tape ends eventually, and Ren looks over at Willard with a smile.

“You did good today, Will. Meet me after school again tomorrow?” Ren asks.

“Sure thing, Ren,” Willard promises.


	2. Headphones

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so terribly sorry but it is short.

The next day, Willard leaves the school by the back door as agreed. He finds Ren leaning on the hood of this car, listening to music in a pair of earphones. 

“Hey!” Willard calls. Ren turns, and grins when he sees who it is.

“Hey, Will,” Ren replies. They high five and then Ren pulls off his headphones. 

“You look nice,” Will says before he can stop himself.

“What?” Ren asks, looking up from sorting through a few cassette tapes.

“Uh, I said, you got no tie,” Will amends himself. It is true. For once, Ren is simply in a collared shirt, sans tie. Ren fiddles with the headphones and smirks.

“Yeah? What about it?” Ren asks teasingly.

“The no tie thing? I like it,” Willard tells him seriously. 

Ren laughs a little, looking down at the portable cassette player. Will could be hard to take completely seriously sometimes. With his serious mouth and earnest brown eyes, he looks like a puppy. He also has an unfortunate tendency to wear his feelings a little too close to the surface and get into fights. But there is something sweet about him, still.

“Well, don’t get used to it,” Ren warns him. He tugs at his collar. “I like to look sharp.” Will laughs a little and Ren relaxes a bit. 

“So, whatcha gonna teach me today?” Willard asks. 

“Uh, I think you should take this home, actually,” Ren says, holding out the portable cassette player and headphones. “That’s my favorite mixtape, so take care of it,” he orders. “Just keep working on keeping a beat, and we can meet up again over the weekend.”

“A’ight,” Willard replies, taking the offered tape and player.

True to his word, Willard practices dutifully, trying to learn the unique rhythm of every song on the tape. After work and school are over, he lies on his bed, headphones pressed into his ears, trying to snap in synch with the electronic beat. 

Eventually, the waves of synthetic sound just rush over him, twangy jolts of green, flashing orange neon, and glassy pastel pinks, and he lies back.

He sleeps with the music in his ears and a grinning face with blue eyes in his mind.


End file.
